We sit down with Tanghalang Pilipino's associate artistic director and Virgin Labfest's co-director Marco Viaña to talk about his early beginnings in the local theatre scene and his great vision for its future
With a career in the country's performing arts scene spanning only a little over a decade, this homegrown talent of Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) has already reached enough milestones to be labelled as one of the country's best. Marco Viaña received the 2019 Gawad Buhay award for "Male Lead Performance in a Play" after his chilling performance in Katsuri. Previously, he also received the 2017 Gawad Buhay award for "Male Featured Performance in a Play" in Ang Pag-uusig.
While pursuing a degree in Engineering at the Mapua University, Viaña was attracted to the energy and magic of theatre. Aside from essaying male lead roles, he has also directed some independent performances, opera recitals for the UP College of Music, and co-directed Lam-ang in 2019, which made him earn the 2020 Aliw award for "Best Stage Director for a Musical".
His artistic performance has always been truthful, on point, and leaves one in deep thought as he effectively transcends the message of his character and scene to the audience. Now the associate artistic director of Tanghalang Pilipino and co-director of Virgin Labfest, Viaña passes on to his colleagues and mentees his knowledge and passion for the craft. In this conversation, he shares with Tatler his early beginnings in the world of theatre and why it matters in the shaping of a nation.
How did you get into the theatre business?
Marco Viaña (MV): Like most Filipino theatre actors, I discovered the magic of theatre in elementary and high school without realising that it will lead to a serious career and more than just an extra-curricular activity. I was a member of the Mapua Tekno Teatro in college where I met my mentors who inspired me to pursue professional theatre. In 2009, a friend invited me to watch the Virgin Labfest (VLF) and I was hooked! Some of the plays I saw were the staging of Layeta Bucoy’s Doc Resureccion, Nick Pichay’s Isang Araw sa Karnabal, Tim Dacanay’s Huling Lektyur ni Misis Reyes, and told myself that these are the kind of plays I want to do—and I want to meet and work with these artists. The following year, when TP announced that they were looking for new resident actors as members of the Actors Company, I convinced my mum to allow me to audition. I got in and got to share the CCP stage with some of the best Filipino artists during the yearly theatre season of TP and the VLF. At present, I am assigned as TP’s associate artistic director and was recently invited to share VLF's co-directorship with Tess Jamias. The journey wasn’t all magic of course. It took years of consistent training and practice for an Engineering graduate like me to develop my craft. And the learning process never stops. We, the current members of the Actors Company, are constantly reminded to continue being students of theatre, and of life, and have that mindset for continuous growth and learning.